Method of forming a hairpiece



Jan. 14,- 1969 w. RICH, JR 3,421,521

' METHOD OF FORMING A HAIRPIECE Filed May 24, 1966 Sheet of 2 PATTER/V-ZO- FOUNDATION-28 WARREN 1.. RICH, JR.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Jan. 14, 1969 w. 1.. RICH, JR 3,421,521

METHOD OF FORMING A HAIRPIECE Filed May 24, 1966 I Sheet .2 of 2 WARRENL. R/CH, JR. 64 32 8 MENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An expandable transparent wrapping plastic ispulled into conformity with the head of the person and the extent of thedesired hairpiece is traced thereon. This area is stiffened with tapecrossings thus fixing the contour. This serves as a pattern for castinga plaster mold. A plastic material web made by coating the mold interiorbecomes the foundation in which the hair is set. This is petformed on afoam plastic head block, individual hairs being inserted, doubled back,with a needle tool so that a small loop is left extending into the foamon the far side. The foundation is then hemmed and removed from the headblock and the loops flattened and secured with cement.

This invention relates generally to hair structures, and moreparticularly it pertains to improvements in toupee fitting andconstruction.

In the past, toupees have been rather short-lived and troublesome. Theycould not be wet or shampooed. Oil would loosen the hairs and thebaseswould shrink, harden and crack. They also tended to disclose abluntness or obviousness when worn by men and it was very difficult tocomb thern and get a good part and natural hair line. There also was nogood method for fitting to the individual head and the linings wouldsoon become frayed and exposed at the edges.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedtoupee which can be wetted with water or oilsand can be combed withoutdanger of loosening the hairs.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a base andlining for atoupee which is better fitting, more nat-ural looking, and lasting thanheretofore.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a method of forminga toupee to a templet-derived form for individual fit.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention. will becomemore readily apparent and understood from the following detailedspecification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are perspective views illustrating succes'sive stepsin marking, forming, and shaping of a temp let or pattern in preparationfor the formation of a foundation for a toupee according to the featuresof this invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the forming of the improvedfoundation;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view depicting the implanting of hair to ahemmed foundation using a soft head-block form and a special needle;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an under-side view of the toupee showing the linerconstruction;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary crosssectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 7;and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view, partially in side view and partially incross section, illustrating the implant-ing needle.

Referring now to the details of the invention, a pattern 20 is firstmade by placing a piece of conforming base Patented Jan. 14, 1969 "ice12 such as Gladwrap or Saran, tightly against the head of the person andtracing the outline 16 with a grease penoil 14 about one-quarter of aninch from the growing hair.

Next, short pieces of cellulose tape 18 are laid across this outlinedarea in a cross-hatch pattern to rfix the contour. The pattern 20 is nowcompleted by trimming with scissors 22 around the outline 16.

A mold 24 is then prepared by casting plaster around the invertedpattern 20. When this mold 24 hardens, the pattern 20 is removed and theresulting cavity 26 is coated with a plastic material comprisingPlastersol and vinyl plastic and allowed to set to a thin tough web.

This material is obtained colored skin-like and has the same feeling andtexture as skin when treated as above. The resulting plastic foundation28 is then removed from the mold 24, and a vegetable net binding 30 isnext secured all around the edge with stitching 32.

A head block 34 of Styrofoam is hand sanded to conform to the innersurface of the foundation 28 which is then mounted thereupon as shown inFIG. 5.

Individual strands of hairs 36 are now inserted through the foundation28 extending into the head block 34 as best shown in FIG. 6. A needle 38such as shown in FIG. 9, mounted in a pin vise 40 is used to force aloop 42 from each strand of hair to the interior where it remains afterthe needle is withdrawn.

The foundation 28, now hemmed and haired, is easily removed from thehead block 34 without pulling the hairs. The hair loops 44 are flatteneddown and secured with a cement layer 44 of the rubber-based contact typeas best shown'in FIG. 8.

A lining 46 is next prepared by securing a silk gauze central panel 48to the doubled rear edge 54 of a plastic front panel 50 with stitching56 as best shown in FIG. 7. A rear panel 52 is also stitched to thecentral panel 48 using a reinforcing strip 58 of silk ribbon. Anotherstrip of ribbon 58 is stitched down upon the longitudinal centerline ofthe lining 46.

An edge binding 60 of silk ribbon is secured with stitching 62 allaround the periphery of the lining 46. After being coated with a borderof cement 64, as shown in FIG. 8, the lining 46 is thereby secured tothe prepared foundation 28 thus completing the hairpiece or toupee 10.

The plastic front panel 50 provides a cementing area for firmly securingthe hairpiece 10 to the head of the wearer.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended'claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

l. A method for making a hairpiece comprising, fitting a piece ofconforming transparent plastic material to a portion of the head of aperson, tracing a pattern on the plastic material, taping over thepattern with cellulose tape to fix the contour within the pattern,trimming the pattern by cutting through the said transparent plasticmaterial and tape along the said tracing, mold forming a thin toughplastic foundation from said pattern, said foundation corresponding tothe said contour, placing the plastic foundation on a block of cellularpolystyrene pie-shaped to the said contour, inserting individual strandsof hair through said plastic foundation by forcing looped ends of hairthrough the plastic and into the cellular polystyrene block, removingthe plastic foundation from the said block, securing said looped ends ofsaid strands of hair to the interior surface of said plastic foundationin the pattern of the natural hair groove, and atfixing a lining to saidinterior surface of said plastic foundation to form said hairpiece.

2. A method for making a hairpiece, comprising, placing a piece ofconforming base material against the upper portion of the head of aperson, tracing an outline ofa pattern to be made spaced from thegrowing hair of said person, laying pieces of tape across the outlinedarea in a cross-hatch arrangement to fix the contour of said pattern,preparing a mold of the inverted pattern, removing said pattern fromsaid mold, coating the resulting cavity in said mold With a plasticmaterial and allowing said plastic material to set to form a thin toughplastic foundation, removing said plastic foundation from said mold,securing a net binding around the edge of said plastic foundation,mounting the interior of said plastic foundation upon a head block, theninserting individual. strands to hairs through said plastic foundationto extend into the head block and force a loop from each strand of hairto the interior of said block, removing said plastic foundation fromsaid head block with the looped ends of said hair strands, securing saidlooped ends of said hair strands to the interior of said pl asticfoundation, and then securing a lining to the interior surface of saidplastic foundation to cover said looped ends of said hair strands.

I 6 V, References .Cited UNI ED STA ES PATENTS 8/1911 Kubelka 132-5LOUIS G. 'MANCENE, Pririt' aryExaminer. I I. MITCHELL, AssistantExaminer..

f U.S. c1. X.R.

